Kerber wins the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters for a second straight year
For the second year in a row, former World No.1 Angelique Kerber was triumphant at the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters, edging Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in Sunday’s title bout, 6-4, 6-2.
On her way to the title, Kerber also posted a quarterfinal win over Monica Puig -- who famously defeated the German in the gold medal match at the Rio Olympics -- and got the better of her good friend, former World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis.
For her part, Wickmayer, making her first appearance at the event having retired in the summer of 2025, had advanced to the final by virtue of two match tiebreak nail-biters.
In Friday’s opener, the former No.12 defeated Petra Kvitova -- back on court less than seven months after delivering her twin girls. On Saturday, she edged last year’s runner-up, Alizé Cornet, in the final four.
Rounding out the eight-woman field at the Coque arena this year was France’s Tatiana Golovin, who was dispatched by Radwanska in straight sets in the quarters and Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova, who met a similar fate against Cornet.
“I don’t find the words right now to say how much fun I had on the court,” Wickmayer said in her runner-up speech.
“It was really great to be back and play all these amazing players and to see them again after a while. Most of us are moms now, so we’re living a different life, but it’s so nice to meet up on the court and give it our all and still find the joy in the fight.”
Kerber, the first player to win the event twice, received her trophy from Luxembourg prime minister Luc Frieden and expressed similar sentiments to the fans.
“Actually, I feel like I’m at home -- maybe I should move to Luxembourg!” she said, laughing. “This is such a great event, and to see the stands always full, it’s the most important thing for us. We feel the energy, we feel the competition that we had for 20 years playing on the Tour and we show the younger generations that moms can do it. It’s very special.”
For 25 years, Luxembourg hosted a popular stop on the WTA Tour, players embracing the family atmosphere at the event. The list of champions grew to include six former World No.1s, including Kim Clijsters, who captured the WTA 250 title a record five times.
By 2022, tournament director Danielle Maas and her team at International Women’s Tennis Promotion were keen to build on this legacy under a different format – and the current eight-woman, competitive prize money exhibition was conceived.
Appropriately enough, Clijsters reigned in the first edition held that year, defeating Martina Hingis in the final. In 2023, Kontaveit beat Andrea Petkovic for the crown and the 2024 final saw Flipkens conquer Martina Hingis.
Now established as a hot ticket not only for fans but also stars keen to maintain their atheticism into retirement, the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters has evolved over its five stagings into a showcase of WTA role models and the principles espoused by Billie Jean King more than 50 years ago.
The invitational has developed its own traditions and once again, the nostalgic Jana Novotna Award was presented at a gala dinner before action got underway. This year’s recipient was Luxembourg’s own Anne Kremer, who won WTA titles at Auckland and Pattaya in 2000 and rose to World No.18 in 2002.
The award celebrates individuals who demonstrate special commitment to women’s tennis, in Luxembourg and abroad, just like the much-loved Czech champion did during her lifetime.
Kerber’s victory resulted in a winner’s check of €50,000 from a total purse of €110,000.